The Rising Darkness
by lilbirdie
Summary: Maria's life had never been easy. Her dad left her and her mom when she was just a little baby. They were forced to live off their friends and family. Over the next thirteen years, Maria has a strong hatred for her dad. But will that all change when her mother is captured?
1. Chapter 1

I always thought my life sucked.

My father abandoned me and my mother when I was just a little baby. Since we couldn't pay for a place of our own, we moved in with my grandma and Mom had to work multiple jobs at once.

Everybody at my middle school basically hated me, excpet for my best friend, Carl. Nobody seemed to care for me and pay me any attention. Over the years, I learned that nobody loved me except for Mom, Grandma, Carl, and a few other people.

But that all changed in my eighth grade year, close to Christmas.

"So it's almost been thirteen years since your dad left you?" Carl asked as we walked home from school.

He asked this every year. I always told him to shut up about it, but he never did. That was one of the things about Carl. He never gave up on stuff.

We turned on Pine Lane, past the gas station. We were next door neighbors, so it wasn't much of a hassle to walk home.

"I don't want to talk about it," I told him, tucking my chin into the collar of my coat.

He quickly shut his mouth. Over our many years of friendship, he'd learned not to push my buttons. Especially when it came to my dad. We walked for a little while, then Carl spoke up again.

"Why do you think he left?" he asked hesitantly, careful not to push the wrong button.

I looked at him. His bangs almost covered his startling gray eyes.

I sighed. "My dad was a jobless, heartless deadbeat who cared about nothing but himself. Let's just leave it at that."

I know it sounds cruel. But that's really how I felt. I mean, who leaves a young woman and her child to fend for themselves? That's just plain wrong. Though, Mom never trashtalked Dad. She always told me how much he loved me and how much he didn't want to leave and blah, blah, blah. I couldn't believe she was lying like that. He never cared about us.

I realized we were in front of my house. It was a cute little house. It was baby blue with two stories, and a garden in the front yard.

Better than Dad could've done., I thought.

I looked at Carl. "See you later."

I walked up to the doorway and unlocked the door with the key Mom had given me. Though, I never knew why I had the key in the first place. Someone was always home and there was nothing much in there that anyone would want to steal. Mom said the key was just incase her or Grandma wasn't home. Though she said "just incase" like she would say "nuclear bomb".

Grandma was in the kitchen making dinner. Her hair was a mix of brown and gray and her blue eyes were always shiny. She called everybody "sweetheart" and was nice to basically everybody.

"Hey, sweetheart," she said. "How was school?"

"Miserable as usual," I told her.

"Now don't say that. You're getting a good education."

I plopped my heavy bag full of books on the table. I rubbed my shoulder. "Education hurts."

Grandma chuckled. "You'll get through it."

I rolled my eyes and dragged my bag upstairs to my room. My room wasn't much. Just a bed, dresser, desk. Nothing fancy. We couldn't afford stuff like computers or anything like that. To save money, I wore some of Mom's old clothes. Some kids made fun of me for wearing her clothes, but they were pretty comfy.

Anger rose in my chest. Everytime I thought about how lucky we were to have a house, a place to call home, my hatred for Dad rose even more. If I ever got a chance to meet him, I would show him a piece of my mind. How could he just leave us like this? The only reason we were able to pay the morgage every month was because some friends of Mom's decided to help us out.

I went on to studying. I began to read the book our english teacher assigned, "Tuck Everlasting." It was about this family who drank from this one spring and it turned then immortal. So they've been hiding out for one hundred some years until this twelve year old girl named Winnie finds them and they have to persuade her to not tell anyone their secret.

The letters started jumbling up on the page. The turned upside down, sideways and everything. I was starting to get dizzy. The letters stopped when they spelled something. It said, "We're coming for you."

I gasped and rubbed my eyes. When I looked back at the book, the page was back to normal. I mustive imagined it. I'd had a long day at school. It was probably nothing.

I heard the door shut downstairs. Mom was home from work. I ran down the stairs and gave her a hug.

My mother was in her mid-30's, though she looked much younger. Her skin had no wrinkles or signs of stress. Her silky brown hair had some golden shine to it. Her bright blue eyes always seemed to light up a room, but they showed a sadness in her, that no one could see. She was in her Dunkin' Donuts uniform and had a box of donuts in her hands.

"I brought home dessert," she said smiling, holding up the box for everyone to see.

"I made dinner," Grandma added.

"And I'll set the table," I finished.

I got the plates and silverwear out of the cupboard and set them on the table. Grandma came in with a big pot of spaghetti and Mom came in with a plate of garlic bread. We all sat down and filled our plates. I packed the noodles on my plate and grabbed a big piece of garlic bread, though I wasn't hungry. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about what Carl said. Why did your dad leave you? I mean, I knew it was because he didn't care about us. But Mom never gave me an actual answer. It was driving me crazy.

"Mom, why did Dad leave us?" I asked.

Mom stopped a fork full of spegetti mid-way to her mouth and set it back down. Her expression darkened. "Your father...left us for a certain purpose."

"What kind of purpose?"

Mom tugged on her shirt collar. "It involved his work."

"Is that what he told you?" I asked irritated. "Seriously Mom. Who goes on a business trip for thirteen years?"

"He had to go do something very important."

"More important than family?" I was starting to get angry now. "More important than visiting on birthdays, Christmas, everything!? He left before you two could even get married!"

"There was this big emergency," Mom explained calmly. "And it hasn't subsided. He's not aloud to come home."

"Oh my God! I can't believe you're actually saying this, Mom! He isn't coming back!"

Mom's expression hardened a bit. "Now, I know you're a bit mad at your dad but that doesn't mean..."

"Face it Mom! He never cared about us!"

That did it. Mom's eyes were filling with tears, but I could tell she was mad. She stood up in her chair, and this time, she wasn't afraid to raise her voice. "Maria di Angelo! Your father loved you with all his heart! It tore him to pieces to leave you!"

"How do you know!?", I asked, my voice getting higher. "People lie!"

"I don't want to hear anymore!"

"But Mom.."

"ENOUGH!"

I sat there, stunned. As did Grandma. Mom never yelled at me like that. Never. Her angry expression melted away and a tear went down her cheek.

She pushed her plate away. "I'm not hungry."

She turned and went upstairs to her room.

Grandma looked at me. She looked disappointed. "Go to your roon, Maria."

"But..."

"Go."

I hesitantly got up from my chair and went up to my room. I closed the door and sat on the bed. Then came the tears. I didn't get it. Why would Mom defend the guy who left her alone with her little baby? It didn't make sence. Why would she yell at me like that?

I heard Mom and Grandma talking in the next room. It wasn't like me to eavesdrop, but I had to know what was going on. I put my ear to the wall and listened.

"Don't worry, dear.", Grandma said. "She'll forget about it in the morning."

"I wish I could tell her," Mom said. Her voice cracked, like she'd been crying. "But the council forbade it. Plus, it would put her at risk."

"I know, sweatheart. I know. The last thing we want is to tear this family apart anymore than it already is."

I backed away from the wall. I suddenly felt a little scared. It would put her at risk. Risk of what? Finding out the truth? Whatever it was. And what council was Mom talking about. I felt so confused. I needed to think.

I opened my window and climbed down the rain gutter. I walked down the street. The streetlights were turning on with a dim light, preparing for sunset. Everyone had their garbage cans out on the sidewalk for trash day tomorrow. I walked down to a little playground at the end of the street and sat down on a bench.

I sat there, thinking about what could've possibly happened to make Dad leave us for thirteen years. Who did Mom think she was fooling? Definitely not me. I knew Dad wasn't coming back, and she knew it too. But something was going on.

I watched a few little kids play until my eyelids started to get heavy. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

**A/N Sorry it's a bit boring right now. It'll get better, I promise. :) **

**Feedback is very much appreciated! **


	2. Chapter 2

The next time I opened my eyes, I was staring up at blue sky. I sat up and looked around. The playground was desserted. The sky was clear and the sun shone through the trees. At first, I didn't know where I was, then I remembered: Mom and I fought about Dad and I had to clear my head.

"Oh man! Mom!" I thought.

I ran down the street as fast as I could. Mom was gonna kill me! She would yell at me for leaving the house without her permission and then she'd start crying, telling me how worried she was.

When I got to the house, I stopped dead in my tracks. The door was wide open. At first, I was scared to go in. What if there was a burglar in there or something?

Mom and Grandma are in there. I told myself. If someone's in there, you have to save them.

I cautiously walked through the door. The whole inside of the house was trashed. Pieces of furniture were on fire and debris from the ceiling was scattered all over the hardwood floor. I walked a little further and heard a crack under my shoe. I lifted my foot to see that I'd stepped on a picture that had fell off the wall. I picked it up and examined it.

It was my school picture from third grade. My black hair was in pigtails, I wore my old reading glasses, and a Hannah Montana T-shirt. Some of my teeth were missing and you could see some coming in. God, I looked like such a dork back then. I set the picture on the tableand crept into the livingroom.

"Hello?" I asked. "Mom? Grandma? Anyone there?"

I heard a groan. I looked in the corner to see my grandmother unconscious on the floor. I ran over and knelt beside her. At first I thought she was dead, but she opened her eyes and groaned again.

"Grandma, are you okay?" I asked filled with worry.

She fixed her eyes on me and gave me a gentle smile. "Maria, thank goodness you're alright."

"What happened?" I asked, looking around the room. "Where's Mom?"

"They took her," she told me. "They were looking for you."

"Who took Mom? Who was looking for me?"

Grandma smiled and put my hair behind my ear. "I'm afraid there's no time to explain. Listen. Trust the campers. They'll help you. They'll take you to your father."

"My father?" I asked. "Why would my father help me? He's never helped me. Not ever."

"He'll help you the best he can. Believe me, he will."

Grandma began to glow in a golden light. I covered my eyes. When I looked back, she was gone.

"No!" I yelled. "You can't leave me! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

I heard glass break behind me. I turned to see an African American girl standing there. She looked about fifteen and wore a black tank top and jeans. She kind of freaked me out because I hadn't seen or heard her come in.

"Such a shame," she sounded sorry for me. "A poor little girl with no one to turn to."

I stood. "Who..who are you?"

"Kelie," the girl said. "I was sent here to get you."

"Can you help me find my dad?"

"No." Her eyes suddenly turned red, which gave me the sense to run. She moved with amazing speed. She tackled me and slammed me into the wall. "I'm here to help you meet your doom. I would kill you right now, but you have to be alive for the plan to commence. Believe me, dear. You look extremely tasty."

She suddenly yelped in pain and dropped me to the ground. I looked at her, to see an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. She turned around and growled at something. I looked and saw a hooded figure standing there, bow in hand. Kelie ripped the arrow out of her arm and chuckled. "This should be fun."

The figures bow disappeared and a golden sword took it's place. He raised his weapon, challenging Kelie to make the first move. An evil smile appeared on her face. Her fingernails turned into two-inch long claws. She made a purring sound and lunged. The figure blocked her claws with his sword and pushed her to the ground. Kelie swung her legs around as she fell, tripping him. He tried to get up but she put her stelleto heels on his chest.

She laughed. "Just like old times. Huh, Jackson?"

The figure grabbed her ankles and pulled her to the ground. He quickly got up and put his sword to her neck. She chuckled. "Not bad sweetheat. But I'm afraid you're efforts won't stop me this time."

She disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The figure sighed and his sword disappeared from his hand. He turned his attention to me. I was huddled against the wall, terrified of what I just saw. He undid his hood. Only "he" was a "she".

The first thing a saw was a mane of beautiful blonde hair. She looked like she was in her early 20's. I noticed that she was wearing some kind of armor under her robe. She looked at me with concern and held her hand out to me. "It's okay. I'm here to help you."

"Yeah. I've heard that one before," I said.

"I'll prove it." Her sword reappeared in her hand. She held it out to me. I hesitantly grasped the handle. It was warm. The girl offered me her han again. "Please. You have to trust me."

I went for her hand but pulled back. Then I remembered what Grandma had said. Trust the campers, they'll help you. Was this girl one of the campers she was talking about. I didn't know for sure. But I didn't have much of a choice. I grabbed her hand and she pulled me up.

"What was that thing?" I asked.

"An empousa," the girl explained. "You're lucky she wasn't in her full form. She would've killed you. I must say, I'm glad you're not hurt Maria."

"How do you know my name?", I asked.

She smiled. "I'm an old friend."

Now that I thought about it, the girl did look some-what familliar. I just didn't know where I'd seen her before.

"Common," she said. "We better get out of here before more monsters show up."

"Wait," I said. "You have to tell me what's going on first."

The girl looked at me with sympathy. "I promise I'll explain everything once we get somewhere safe. Or the closest we can get to safe."

That didn't make me feel any better, but I followed her towards the gaping hole she'd entered through.

Before we went out, the girl stopped. "By the way, my name's Lilly."

**A/N Hope you guys liked it! Please review? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

In the backyard, Lilly looked around to see if anyone was watching us. She whistled twice. Two horses appeared out of a patch of trees near the house. As they got closer, I realized they had wings.

"Whoa," I said. "That's so cool."

"I know," Lilly agreed. "There are pegasi."

"Like flying unicorns?"

The pegasi grunted and stomped their hooves.

"Guido and Porkpie don't like being compared to unicorns," Lilly said. "They say that they're just horses who tape horns to their heads for attention."

I stared at her. "Uh-huh... How do you know what they're saying?"

She was about to say something but one of the pegasi interupted her. "Porkpie senses more monsters. We better get out of here."

I nodded in agreement. We hopped on the pegasi and literally shot straight up into the air. I screamed and put my arms around my pegasus' neck. My face mustive been pretty good because I heard Lilly laugh.

"How do you drive this thing!?" I yelled over the wind.

"Just hold on tight! They know where they're going!" she shouted back.

I looked down at the beautiful landscape below me. I saw the nearby snow peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the frost covered rooves of houses. Soon, we were going so fast, I could only see ripples of color. We must've been going 500, 600 miles an hour easily.

Before I knew it, I was looking down at an enormous valley with a huge forest. The smell of pine filled the air. There was a beach that overlooked the ocean and there was a few dozen cabins strangly shaped in an upside down "U." A greek omega. I remembered learning about it in history class. There was also a huge four-story house, painted a cute color of blue. A group of people stared up at us from the ground. I really hoped they were used to seeing two girls riding flying horses one thousand feet in the air.

We landed on the bay. A bunch of people gathered around us, all of then wearing orange T-shirts. Lilly and I hopped off the pegasi. Everyone stared at me in awe, as if they hadn't seen a thirteen year old girl before. They made way as we made our way through the crowd. Some people murmered stuff and pointed at me. As I passed two boys, I heard one of then say, "She's their daughter?"

I looked at them, but they quickly looked away. I fast walked so I could get closer to Lilly. She led me to the big house I'd seen before. There, a man in a wheelchair waited for us on the porch. He had a whispy brown beard, and a blanket was placed over his legs.

"Lilly!" the man exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you've returned safely." He looked at me. "Is this her?"

"Yep," Lilly said. "This is April and Nico's daughter."

The man examined me, doing laps around me with his wheelchair. I just stood there, feeling uncomfortable. He stopped in front of me. "You certainly are their daughter. You have your mother's beauty."

"You knew my mother?" I asked.

He looked at Lilly. "You haven't told her?"

"I was getting to it," she insisted.

"Wait. Tell me what?" I asked.

So many questions were going through my head. Where was my mother? What was this place? Why did that empousa thing attack me?

The man stroked his beard. "Please. Come inside."

He got up from his wheelchair. (Which I didn't think was possible since he was in a wheelchair in the first place) He began to grow taller and wider. Soon, I saw that his bottom half was a white horse. I gasped.

"Maria, this is Chiron," Lilly said. "He's the camp's activities director."

"Hey," I said. I couldn't stop staring at his horse half.

The centar smiled at me. "Come."

I followed him and Lilly inside. The living room was cute and cozy. There was a tiny couch up against the wall, a table, and a head of a leapord on the wall. The leapord's eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," Chiron said.

I took off my tennis shoes and winter coat and sat down on the couch. "Now, tell me what's going on," I demanded.

Lilly looked at Chiron. He nodded. She sighed and looked at me. "The Greek gods of mythology are real. They have moved to America such as they did to Rome. Sometimes they come down to earth and mate with mortals. Their children are called demigods. This place is called Camp Half-Blood. It's where demigods train to fight monsters and strengthen their powers."

I let her words sink in. Greek gods were real, they moved to Ameirca and had kids with mortals. Yep. That was a lot to take in.

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked. "My parents are both mortals aren't they? Nico and April don't exactly sound like god names."

"You aren't the offspring of a god," Chiron told me. "But your parents are."

I left out a small chuckle. "My parents are kids of the all-powerful, legendary Greek gods? You've got to be joking."

"Maria, this is serious," Lilly told me. "Your parents are demigods, and very powerful demigods at that. Your dad is the son of Hades, lord of the dead. One of the Big Three gods. And your mom is the daughter of Pan, god of nature. The only child of Pan that's ever been discovered."

"This is so confusing," I said. "Why am I here if I'm not a demigod?"

"You're a very rare mix," she explained. "It's not normal for a child to have the mixed powers of Hades and Pan. Let's just say...bad stuff can happen."

"What kind of bad stuff?"

She was about to say something but Chiron interupted her. "We're not sure."

"What about Mom?" I asked. "Who took her?"

Chiron and Lilly exchanged looks.

"It's a long story," Lilly said. "You see, twenty-two years ago, the Titan lord Kronos came up from Taturus, a large pit of darkness in the Underworld. He led his army against Mount Olympus in Manhattan. My parents and your dad fought valiantly, and they defeated him. Kronos was gone...but his followers weren't."

"What do you mean?"

"His former supporters began a rebellion the year you were born," Chiron explained. "Their numbers are in the thousands, probably in the millions. Western civilization is beginning to crumble under our feet."

"The rebels built a Labyrinth in the exact same place the original one was," Lilly added. "That's where their main headquarters is. Your dad was sent to scope out the Labyrinth, but we haven't heard from him in years. Now, no one dares to go in."

I sat there is disbelief. "You mean Dad left me and Mom to save the world and he might be dead? After all this time I thought..."

My eyes began to fill with tears. Lilly sat next to me and gave me a hug. "I know how you feel. My parents go on quests for months at a time and I never know if they're okay. I know you have some mixed feelings about Nico. But believe me Maria, it broke his heart to leave you and your mom."

I sniffled. I couldn't believe this. I always thought my father hated me, but he was risking his life to safe the world, including myself. How could I have been so cruel? 'It would put her at risk,' Mom had said. Now I knew what she meant. I should've listened to her. I began to cry.

"How come nobody told me?" I asked through my tears.

"You don't know how much power you hold, Maria," Chiron said. "Knowing would put you in more danger. The Olympian council decided when you were born that you were not to know of your heritage until you turned sixteen. Then, you would be able to come to camp and start training."

I stood. "Let's start training now! I want to find my parents!"

Lilly stood as well. "I'm sorry, Maria. But with the rebellion and all..you're just too young to fight."

"How old were you when you started fighting?"

She looked a bit embarrassed. "Eleven. But I've been training all my life. You still have a bunch of learning to do. Now, go and take a look around."

"But..."

"Go," Chiron insisted. "Lunch will be at noon."

I looked at Lilly. "What about you?"

"I'll catch up. Chiron and I have to talk."

She walked me out of the house and shut the door behind me.

**A/N Hi guys! What do you think so far? Please review! It means a lot! :)**


End file.
